Allegretto no Yume
by ashewalton
Summary: Allegretto always feels a little anxious when he stays too long in one place, maybe it's just his adventurous spirit, or maybe it's his unwavering need to spot out injustice and strike it down. Even with his restless feelings, maybe he's fine where he is.


**Title:** Allegretto no Yume

**Author:** lj user="ashewalton"

**Beta(s):** lj user"crimsonlayers": Thanks for putting up with and fixing stupid things like "eh never stayed in one place longer than he wanted to and eh doesn't afraid of anything."

**Pairing:** Slight Allegretto/Beat

**Rating:** PG

**Disclaimer:** Characters are property of TriCrecendo and Namco/Bandai.

**Summary:** [Word Count 1, 010] Allegretto always feels a little anxious when he stays too long in one place, maybe it's just his adventurous spirit, or maybe it's his unwavering need to spot out injustice and strike it down. For all of his restless feelings, maybe 'Retto's just fine where he is. For now, anyway.

**A/N:** I notice a lack of this pairing. And they're so darned cute, too. It's probably sad that in the first half hour of the game and I had my OTP for this game completed and utterly decided. Also, it should be noted that English!Beat makes me want to kick puppies and punch kitties. That's all for now, folks.

~ **I** ~

Beat and Allegretto both plopped down, exhausted, on to the well-used, musty blanket that was sprawled out all helter-sketler on the hideout floor. Allegretto flopped down on to his back and stared up at the decrepit hideout ceiling. There were holes in the roof large enough to see the stars through as well as the incoming black clouds. Allegretto felt an ever mounting impatience. Before he met Beat here in Ritardando, he had travelled from town to town, and never stayed in any one place any longer than he wanted to. Allegretto hated that he knew where _everything _was, that he _never_ got lost, that he knew _exactly_ where he was going to go to sleep tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after _that_.

"Man, I'm exhausted... and it looks like it's going to rain tonight," Allegretto muttered and with considerable effort pushed himself up and then extended a hand to Beat up as well, which the younger boy accepted, although he was confused as to why it was offered.

"Hey, Beat! Help me pull the tarp out of that crate to put on the roof. The roof will leak on us all night if we don't get it up before the rain starts."

"But 'Retto, can't we just move the blanket somewhere there's no leaks in the roof? I'm tired." Beat had been out all day photographing the ocean, climbing up and down trees, running up and down the dock trying to get the "perfect shot." And on top of that, he had to do his daily chores and help take the bread to the orphans in the sewers. He probably _was_ tired, but Allegretto couldn't get the tarp up the ladder and spread it over the roof by himself.

"That would be fine if there weren't leaks in the _whole_ roof, and if you wanted to wake up soaking wet from the water dripping on to the floor. Now help me hoist this up the ladder."

~ **II **~

"Hey 'Retto..? D'you think that tarp's _really_ gonna keep all the rainwater out? I mean, it didn't even cover half the roof. Won't the water still get in the other holes in the roof and get us all wet?"

"Don't be stupid Beat, haven't you ever noticed that the floor is on a slope? All the water will just run to the side." Allegretto rolled over with his back to Beat, signalling the end of any further conversation, on that topic, or any others. Tomorrow would undoubtedly be just as boring and monotonous as today. Allegretto tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable on the hard floor. Perturbed by the sound of the rain pattering on the tarp and by the overwhelming familiarity of the small den, Allegretto got up and quietly grabbed an umbrella from a nook in the wall and climbed up the ladder to the streets of Ritardando to clear his mind.

Allegretto wound his way through the drab streets of the small town. His mind was blank, but he didn't need to think of the direction he was headed in--his feet found their way along the cobblestone easily. They brought him passed the bakery, the general store, out to the docks and back to the hideout just as it started to lightning, warning him that the weather would soon become even more malignant. He heaved himself down the ladder and back into the diminutive room. Allegretto shook out the umbrella and stuck it back into the nook.

Full of feelings of anxiety and tension, Allegretto flopped down on to the damp, musky blanket that had served them as a bed and tried to make himself at rest. He tried rolling himself on to his side facing away from Beat, sleeping on his stomach, rolling over onto his back, and finally settling facing towards Beat.

"Hey, Beat... you okay?" Allegretto shook Beat's shoulder and tried to get his attention. "Beat, what're you crying for?"

Beat pulled his arms around his face and turned around. "Not cryin'. The ceiling must be drippin'."

The older boy contemplated forcing an answer out of Beat briefly. Allegretto couldn't possibly understand how that would help, though. Wouldn't he just be more upset telling him something he wasn't ready to say? "Beat, your clothes are getting all damp. If you're cold, why don't you warm up next to me?"

Beat hesitated for a minute, and then rolled over and snuggled up next to 'Retto. "We should try and fix the roof a bit tomorrow."

Allegretto wrapped his arms around Beat. "So what? We can handle a little rain, right?"

~ **III** ~

"If we don't hurry, we're gonna get caught in the rain."

"So what? We can handle a little rain. I mean the hideout's roof leaks like crazy, and that's only when it drizzles!" Beat gave 'Retto a quick glance, to see if the phrase had reminded him of anything. If it did, Allegretto showed no sign of it outwardly.

Allegretto just kept walking, and finally said, "Yeah, you got a point there."


End file.
